Taryn

The End. Or is it? Chapter 13

I walk with Merritt, Henley, and Daniel to Central Park. Henley points her flashlight at the gate in front of us. " It's locked. " Henley messes with the chain a bit. 

" Weren't you listening? " I look up at the familiar voice. " Nothing's ever locked. " I smile at Jack. 

" Well done, Mr Wilder! Good work. " Henley praises. 

Jack unlocks the gate and lets us in. I'm the last one to go in. Jack smiles at me as he holds open the door. " Hey Taryn. " 

" Hey Jack. You didn't die. " I smile. 

" Nope. " He chuckles. " I'm still alive and kicking. " 

We walk up to the others who are walking over to a tree. " What if all this was just leading up to us getting mugged in Central Park at 2:00 a.m.? " I ask as I shove my hands into my pockets to keep some warmth. 

" No, I'm telling you, we're right where we need to be. " Daniel reassures me. " We just have to find...." 

" That? " Henley points her light at the tree we passed. " The Lionel Shrike tree. " 

" What do we do now? " Jack asks. 

We put our tarot cards together on Henley's hand. The cards light up and Henley waves them in front of the playing card that's embedded in the tree. 

" Oh nice! " Merritt smiles. 

The lights come from somewhere behind us. We walk around a bunch of shrubs and plants. A beautiful carousel comes into view. " Oh my gosh. " I gasp. 

" I did not see that coming. " 

" That's impossible! " Jack says pretty shocked. 

" No way. " Henley says in disbelief. 

" That was actually pretty good. " Daniel praises slightly. 

" Thank you. " Agent Rhodes says with a smile. 

" When I said ' Always be the smartest guy in the room. ' " Daniel looks up at Agent Rhodes. 

" We were in agreement. " 

" Okay. " Daniel nods. " Right. " 

" Henley. " Agent Rhodes smiles. 

" I've never seen her speechless. " Daniel points to Henley. 

" I take that as a huge compliment. " Agent Rhodes smiles as he shakes her hand. 

" Hey man, I'm so sorry for kicking your butt. Really. " Jack apologizes to Agent Rhodes. 

Agent Rhodes chuckles. 

" Hey listen, for the record, I have always been a 100% believer. " Merritt says, trying to get on Agent Rhodes good side. " And the amount of energy I have expended to keep these infidels on point..." He points to us. I punch his arm playfully. 

" Merritt. You're in. " Agent Rhodes says with a nod. 

He turns to me. I smile nervously. " Hey Mr Rhodes. " I look down at my feet sheepishly. " I'm so so sorry about how rude I was to you. I kinda was-" 

" Don't worry about it, Taryn. It's part of the reason I choose you as one of The Horsemen. Your personality. I knew if you ever got in trouble, you'd give them a hard time. And call me Dylan by the way. " 

I smile. " Thanks. "

He nods. " Come. " He leads us to the carousel. " The real magic is taking five solo acts and making them all work together. And that's exactly what you did. So, welcome. Welcome to the Eye. " 

He jumps onto the carousel and disappears. 

Daniel and Henley jump on after him. Merritt climbs over the gate and Jack I follow. 

I laugh as I jump on after Jack. " Oh my gosh! I haven't been on one of these since I was a kid! " 

Jack smiles back at me we disappear.